... an' I sit b'side me fellow bard, first w'confusion, then comprehension o' me loss. Gone? They both be gone from me? And then the Faerie Queen's words come back ta me w'full impact.

"Sweet child of mine own, I would tell thee more, but thee needs hear the tale from the lips of thy father's son. Hear this, and hear it well. Ye shall hear of the fate of the humans from one who knows thee not. Tis one who walks too close to the borders of the Shadowland and speaks with those who have passed beyond the veil. Thee can tell by the tresses that fall to thy feet that many years have passed in the world of the humans, though it seems but a short span of time here in Briarwyne. Now ... get thee gone, child ... tis time! I shall watch over thee, and if thee needs me, ye know how to reach me."

At the eery sound of a ghostly splash in the lough, I rise from me seat an' stare out past the oak circle. I turn toward Brandubh, an' wit' tears in me eyes, I tell him the story of my time w'the Faeries, and share the words of me mother, the Queen o' Faeries o' Briarwyne.

" ... it'd seemed only days that I'd been amongst them, when I was brought before their Queen. I sat at her feet as she told me the tale o' meetin' your father, and ... and, I was the result o' that brief an' lovin' affair. Tho yer Da knew it not..."

I couldna go on ... the look on me new-found brother's face stopped me words an' heart. I reached out, not knowin' how the shock o' knowin' would effect 'im ...